The Private Market Reaches a Tipping Point

PETER CHRISTIANSEN

June 22, 2017

In this note, we describe the evolution of private technology companies in the U.S. and
Europe and document the growth in both the number of pre-IPO companies and their
valuations. Given this growth and the increasing propensity of large institutional
investors to take direct stakes in these companies, we make the argument that latestage,
private companies, in aggregate, can increasingly be viewed as a distinct
asset class.